Close

Assovini Sicilia brought the greatest wines of Sicily to the United States under one roof in an exclusive event at the elegant Il Gatopardo restaurant. Located in the lushly planted Atrium private dining room with its soaring skylight within the historic Rockefeller Townhouse in midtown Manhattan, across from the Museum of Modern Art, there could n...

536

The Promised Life (La Vita Promessa) is an Italian period drama that begins in Sicily in 1921 when the region was extremely impoverished, much like the rest of Italy after World War I. The series transports viewers from Sicily to Naples to New York City (with some flashbacks) during the time when waves of Italian immigrants were arriving on America...

3819

The Norman Palace in Palermo, the former seat of the kings of Sicily, is the oldest royal residence in Europe. Its greatest attraction is the Palatine Chapel, where every detail reveals the perfect union among different styles: Latin, Byzantine, Arab -  here’s where the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean blends to reflect that ‘melting pot’ that...

514

One is immediately struck by the sense of history when visiting Sicily, the southern Italian island that feels less like an “island” and more like its own continent. Given Sicily’s strategic location, the island was one of the most sought-after prizes in the Mediterranean, with a long history marked by Greek, Roman, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Arab,...

446

Join us on November 30 at 6pm for an enlightening evening with Gaetano Cipolla, an authority on Sicilian culture and language. RSVP Here. He is Professor Emeritus at St. John’s University and President and Editor of Arba Sicula, an international organization that promotes Sicilian culture. Dr. Cipolla launched two series of books on Sicilian cultur...

796

Noto is a petite, Sicilian Baroque gem, splendidly set within a rocky plateau and overlooking the Asinaro Valley. An important hub during all its phases – i.e. Sicilian, Roman, Byzantine, and Arab – it met destruction with the earthquake of 1693, at the height of its original splendor. Yet Noto found a second life in its reconstruction, and became...

1057

Humans settled this triangle of land as early as 12,000 BC, and the island saw the rise of great Phoenician and Ancient Greek civilizations. Later, the island was ruled by Byzantines, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Normans and Arabic conquerors, all of whom contributed to the island's rich and unique culture. The Sicilian dialect still includes words from th...

686

In Ghosts of the Belle Époque: The History of the Grand Hôtel et des Palmes, Palermo, by Andrew & Suzanne Edwards, the authors have given us a memory story taking place over many times and set in one particular place. The book is jam-packed with events from the turn of the 19th Century through to the present. It is a remarkable achievement to maint...

1088

The colorful ‘fruttini di Martorana’ are a typical dessert prepared in Sicily for the solemn feast for the Day of the Dead on November 2nd, to commemorate lost loved ones on the island. The Martorana fruits take their name from the aristocrat Eloisa Martorana, who founded Palermo’s third Benedictine monastery in 1194. In 1876, the monastery was exp...

717

The Valley of Temples (or "Valle dei Templi" in Italian) is a remarkable archaeological site in Agrigento (or in ancient Greek Akragas) in Sicily. Once Greater Greece had colonies throughout much of the Meditteranean and Black Seas. Some of their largest colonies were in Sicily and today Sicily boasts some of the most outstanding examples of Greate...

792